29th APEC Ministerial Meeting launched

The 29th APEC Ministerial Meeting has begun to set the groundworks for the Economic Leaders’ Meeting

Minh stated that since the 28^th APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) last year in Lima, the region has seen rapid and complex developments. The global and regional landscapes are experiencing continued shifts with intertwining opportunities and challenges.

“Economic recovery is firming up, but projected growth rates are still below pre-crisis averages. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has created hopes for higher productivity, but also anxiety about its transformative implications,” Minh said.

International co-operation and integration endeavours continue to be reinforced. However, threats posed by regional tensions, terrorism, inequality, natural disasters, and cyber insecurity are becoming more acute, he said.

This past year has once again proved the APEC’s incredible ability to adapt, to transform, and to lead. The APEC continues to help ensure the Asia-Pacific’s role as an engine of global economic growth and integration for the benefit of local people and businesses.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh

“We have set “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future” as our aim for this year. We have been focusing on consolidating the momentum of the APEC cooperation and advancing the four priorities,” Minh stressed.

The priorities include (i) promoting sustainable, innovative, and inclusive growth, (ii) deepening regional economic integration, (iii) strengthening the competiveness of MSMEs, and (iv) enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture.

“With hard work and effective cooperation, our officials, businesses, and stakeholders, the nine ministerial-level meetings and dialogues, and the over 200 committees and sub-forum meetings organised this year have produced concrete results and deliverables,” Minh said. "Against this backdrop, the 29^th AMM APEC Ministerial Meeting has three main objectives, namely to review the work of the APEC processes this year, to finalise preparations for our Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the next two days, and to decide on ways to push co-operation in major areas."

Minister Tran Tuan Anh also stated at the meeting that in 1994, APEC leaders envisaged a bright future of greater prosperity and stability for the region through achieving free and open trade and investment, widely known as the Bogor Goals.

“Following our leaders’ instructions, for more than two decades, APEC has made such remarkable progress that the forum has now affirmed its role as a driver of economic growth and integration in the Asia-Pacific region,” Tuan Anh said. “By this time in 2020, the Bogor Goals will have been achieved.”

At the MRT 23 last May in Hanoi, APEC trade ministers made strong commitments to achieving the Bogor Goals by taking urgent and concrete actions. Since then, under close instructions from APEC trade ministers, APEC officials have made very encouraging and tangible progress in deepening regional economic integration as a contribution towards reaching the Bogor Goals.